Archive for September, 2010

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

William Penn’s woods have been subjected to grievous insults over the past century and a half, and the repercussions are still affecting entire regions of the state. Beginning in the mid-1800s, loggers stripped the hills of nearly every standing tree to fuel a growing nation and to sustain the efforts of the Union during the Civil War. The loggers began with the magnificent stands of white pine, legendary for the size and quality of the trees, especially for ship masts. As is typical in boom and bust economies, the loggers began to expand their take once the highest quality lumber was […]

Monday, September 27th, 2010

This week’s focus was on the socio-economic effects on the watershed. Coal mining and logging have been the historic socio-economic boom and busts of the area, and now Marcellus Shale is looking like it will be the next commodity to take the same course. This week has been full of field trips to Centralia, Pioneer Coal Mine and the Lumber Museum in Galeton, Pa. This was my second trip to Centralia and the Pioneer Coal Mine, but it wasn’t any easier emotionally to walk through Centralia. Centralia has had a coal fire burning beneath the town since the 60s. Slowly […]

Monday, September 27th, 2010

There is no other state I know with such a wide-spread affinity for burning things as is found in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. But on May 27, 1962, instead of simply burning up trash and debris in the Centralia town dump, several firefighters accidentally set the ground beneath their feet on fire. The fire escaped from the surface, into a seam of anthracite coal, the very resource that established both town of Centralia all the towns all across the Hard Coal region of Pennsylvania. The fire burns on, decades later, as proved by the steam and smoke still escaping from […]

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

After a week on the road, it almost feels like a vacation to stay around Lewisburg for our activities. We nonetheless remained quite busy, visiting Cowan several times, electro-shocking a portion of a small creek to collect samples of aquatic lifeforms, and visiting local farms that ultimately affect the Chesapeake Bay that we just visited the week before. The beginning of the week involved understanding watershed science, from both a geomorphological and an ecological perspective. We measured stream discharge, surveyed a cross-section of Buffalo Creek, and I was amazed at the number of small fish that turned up in a stream that […]

Monday, September 20th, 2010

It’s amazing what you can learn when you take a step back and look at smaller sections compared to the whole. In this case, the whole is the Susquehanna River and the smaller sections are the tributaries and streams that feed into the river. This week’s trips to Cowan and Buffalo Creek opened my eyes to the effect of storms on the habitat of the river. Monday’s trip was focused on water discharge through Buffalo Creek and the change that occurs during storm flow. Through the use of surveying tools, we measured how high the water would come up the bank […]

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Day 3: Safely returned to the mainland, our trip to the barrier island has been a success and we are all tired but thrilled to have had such an adventure. Next, our attention is turned inland to the Bay, and to one of the best places to come to grips with the issues and concerns that face the Bay: The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Headquarters. It is one thing for an organization to say, “Save the Bay,” and another thing to exemplify it by lifestyle and even the construction of their facilities. The Philip Merrill Environmental Center is constructed from […]

Monday, September 13th, 2010

This past week has been the first of several extended field trips for the BotS crew. This week’s goal being to experience at least a sampling of the entire Chesapeake Bay in five days. As I write this, we are on the road back to Bucknell, nearly everyone is asleep or quickly fading in that direction (except for “Dad” driving the bus and “Mr. Frizzle”[1].) There is too much to tell in one post, so here is Part I of our adventures. Day I: Normally, we have one extra seat on the bus, but to fit 14 people and all […]

Monday, September 13th, 2010

This past week was a fantastic way to learn about the Chesapeake Bay and how greatly the Susquehanna River affects it. Starting at 7:30 a.m. Monday morning we began a long but scenic trip through Lancaster and down the Eastern Shore through Delaware, Maryland and, finally, to Oyster, Va. Oyster is a very small relic of a fishing town. The small towns in the area contain haunting remains of what used to be a booming fishing industry. Monday night we talked with a waterman (a fancy term for fisherman) named Randy. His story was amazing and a great way to […]

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Week Two of Bucknell on the Susquehanna has been largely focused on two elements: Rocks and humans. While we are no longer a Stone Age society, dependent on stone to make our tools, we are still tremendously influenced by the rocks that make up the world we live in. From quarries to sacred Native American grounds, and from outcrops of the now famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) Marcellus Shale to obscure piles of dirt that turn out to be 800,000 years old glacial deposits, we have been all over the history of the Susquehanna River Valley. Rocks are […]

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Last Friday began the first of our official classes, Bucknell literally on (and occasionally in) the Susquehanna River. At Montoursville, Dr. Ben Hayes, director of the University Environmental Center, explains the significance of the region we are about to explore on this day’s kayak trip. As will be seen throughout the semester, there are many facets from different perspectives to consider. The oldest element is the geologic history of the region, as the Susquehanna here rides the border between two distinct physio-geographic provinces of Pennsylvania. To the south are miles upon miles of ridges and valleys, tortured folds of rock […]

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